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Two summer vases on Monday

Nasturtiums and calendula make a return visit in my first vase this week.  Their strong colours were the best to bounce off the deep wine red of my first sweet peas.  I knew that my sweet peas were going to be a bit half-hearted this year.  They took for ever to germinate and have been slow to come to anything.  The plants are spindly and do not hold a lot of promise.  I seem to remember that last year they made repeated appearances in my Monday vases, right up until the first frosts.  All the seeds I have planted this year have been disappointing.  However, I am enjoying the vibrant colour of today's vase and may well call upon the nasturtiums and marigolds again over the coming weeks!
I picked the flowers in my second vase during a walk on Saturday afternoon.  Three different clovers - white, red and crimson, phacelia, hogweed and dainty fumitory.  The phacelia and crimson clover were growing along a field margin planted for pheasant cover, but for me they still count as wild flowers - I just love them!

Comments

  1. What a colourful contrast of flowers in your first vase Amanda and the vase itself brings the Mediterranean to mind. You are not alone in having sweet pea problems this year. The second though has to be my favourite. I don't think I've ever seen a red clover in the flesh. Simply beautiful!

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    1. Thank you Anna! The jazzy jug was given to me by my sister, very many moons ago, following a trip to Italy! The red clover is the slightly bluer of the two red coloured clovers. On the left hand side in the photos. Very common in the UK, although white clover probably beats her red cousin hands down! White clover grows everywhere! I saw crimson clover for the first time ever last year! I was completely taken aback when I saw it growing along a field margin. Such a fabulous colour. I did a little research and it has its origins in Europe and has found its way over here in the field margin seed mixes which they plant for green silage, cover for pheasants, or just for pollinators. Or all three! A

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  2. Beautiful vases Amanda! Unless I can't tell by perspective, your clover flowers look so large. I only have the kind that grow in the lawn, so they look like giants to me. I would never have thought to use them in an arrangement and yours are true beauties!

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    1. Thank you Cindy! The clover flowers are not that big! It's just the photo I think. White clover grows in lawns as well as everywhere else! We have some in our grass (hardly dare call our tiny patch a lawn!!). The crimson clover elongates as its flowers come out, so it is the biggest of all three. Red clover is bigger than white, and falls between the two size-wise! But none of them are big!! Trick of the light!! A

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  3. The vase you chose for your hot-colored blooms is just perfect, Amanda. My heart was stolen by the second vase, though. I love the various clovers and that pretty fumitory. I recall looking that plant up before and was disappointed all over again to find that not even the genus is mentioned in my regional garden guide despite the fact that, as a plant with Mediterranean origins, it should grow here.

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    1. Fumitory is such a delicate little plant but it grows in the toughest of places! It is really very intricate and if you feel you should be able to grow it, how frustrating that it doesn't work out! The second vase was my favourite too! Wild flowers! Can't beat them in my book! A

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  4. I love the second arrangement . What an inspired farmer to sow such a lovely range. There must be a wide range of pollinators that are attracted. The pop of colour in your first vase is surely enhanced by those lovely leaves. This year I have self seeders coming up just as their parents with white splashed leaves, but I do like the dark greens, so will be looking out for seed from those for next spring.

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    1. Those nasturtiums leaves are whoppers! I was looking at the plants again today. They self-sow each year on the edge of my raised bed. These leaves are so big that I have had to chop them back to allow other things to have any chance of survival! I think the leaves are as decorative as the flowers, and love the occasional kink in their stems! A

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  5. That second vase is gorgeous! It shows how a few wildflowers can be put together to create a wonderful arrangement. And the bright colours in the first vase are great too. Summer is here and the colours in our gardens are getting hotter! ��

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    1. Thank you Cathy! Can't beat the wild flowers in my book! I really love them even though they aren't as showy as garden flowers. Actually that's probably why I love them the best! A

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  6. Both vases are wonderful. I love the color of the nasturtiums and you found great companions. That last photo of the second vase is a charm. Have a good week Amanda.

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    1. Thanks Susie. I did love your vase! I am sorry that I don't seem to be able to leave a message on your blog. It's the same with a few of the IAVOM contributors. I don't know why this has happened but it is frustrating! I always love seeing what everyone else has come up with each week! A

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